Iron meets Shadow, A destined pair
by EmberlyFae
Summary: Raven has always been a bit of a loner but she feels so at home with Gajeel. Does he feel the same way or is she simply a fool for believing they could change each other. Two people who no matter how they try never seem to let anyone close to them. Will they break down the walls guarding each others hearts or simply cause each other more pain?


Chapter One – Returning Home

Two years had come and gone since she had been home last. She had spent much of that time wandering the land of Fiore searching for a sign of her mother, chasing down every rumor spread throughout the land about Dragons. Many times during her search she ran into a rather peculiar pink hair boy, Natsu, who through the years came to be known far and wide as the Salamander of Fairy Tail. She was always doubtful that he would remember who she was every time they met, but much to her surprise he did. They had never been close even though they grew up together at Fairy Tail, she was also a few years his senior. Being a couple years older than Erza and a couple years younger than Laxus; making her twenty one today; she found it hard to connect with any of the members of the guild and tended to stick to herself most of the time. Even though she never could seem to make friends she was never alone. She always had Rika, her orange stripped cat.

Today she was finally going to be returning home, in the years she spent with the guild she had become quite fond of everyone there, even though she would never come out right and say it. She may have not made friends with her fellow members but to her they were still as close to family as she would ever have. She felt it would be very nice to see her family once again after having been gone for so long. Being an S-class wizard sometimes she would be gone for extended periods of time, this happened to be a longer period than she original thought it would be.

She didn't like to be away from the guild for such extended periods, she would much rather be home more often so she can watch her family grow in strength and numbers. She had spoken to the Master of our Guild, Makarov, a few months ago; of whom they had all come to look up to like a father or grandfather if you took into account his age; it seemed that Fairy Tail has gained a new member yet again. She is a Celestial Wizard and has found her place easily into their crazy family. Fairy Tail may not forever be one of the strongest guilds in all of Fiore, but they will always be the most welcoming.

Raven's POV

 _The sun always seems to shine so much brighter in Magnolia_ , I thought to myself as I walked quickly through the city's streets. Making my way past all the inhabitants of our glorious home I couldn't wait to arrive at my destination. My long slender legs made large strides down the pavement and the loud clack of my heels could be heard all around. The loose white tank top I wore hung just over my short denim shorts and blew in the wind behind me as I rush for my destination.

"Raven, could you slow down a bit?" I heard a small voice over my shoulder as my small cat friend peeked her head out of my bag and through my mid-back length jet black hair.

"How can I slow down Rika? Im so excited to be home!" I answered excitedly.

"Raven, stop and take a look around, something's not right." Rika protested. With a slight growl I stopped looking around at the town's people, and she was right. All of the people seemed frightened, and seemed to look at us with pity in their eyes. "I think something has happened at the guild."

"I think you may be right Rika, ever more a reason to get there quickly. Hang on." I started sprinting now towards the guild hall. If something had happened to my family while I was gone I would never forgive myself. I ran quickly through the South Gate Park and around one more bend before finally reaching my destination.

Anger bubbled in my veins upon the sight of my beloved home. My small hands now clenched tightly into small fists. The Guild hall had been almost completely destroyed. Large iron spires stuck out in every direction. The whole place was an absolute mess.

"Who could have done this?" A low growl escaped my throat. An aura of anger now surrounded my body, causing my powers to flare out without any control, the aura becoming deep black shadows whipping around my body like tentacles.

"It was Phantom…" Someone spoke softly from behind us. It was Mirajane, her usually bubbling and smiling sweet face that greeted everyone with such warm welcomes was now stained with tears. "They got us good." Her long flowing white hair stuck to the wetness of her cheeks as she sobbed softly.

"Mira…" I spoke softly pulling her into a gentle hug. "Where is everyone else? Was anyone hurt?" I asked her but she did not answer, instead she lead me down into the basement of the guild hall which was normally used for storage but was now being used as a temporary base of operations for the guild.

Down in the basement of the guild hall everyone sat nursing their injured prides. I noticed immediately the drunken stupor that our Master was in as he argued with Natsu. It seemed Natsu wanted to take the fight to Phantom but the Master refused. Stepping into the argument I placed my hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"Natsu, that's enough." I spoke softly causing the boy to quiet down and look at me. With the commotion now ceasing the rest of the guild turned their eyes towards us.

It was not often anyone besides Erza could get him to calm down. Erza was regarded as one of the strongest female wizards in Fairy Tail, so much so that many people knew her as Titania Erza Queen of the fairies. I admired Erza, her strength was always unwavering. Her long red hair flowed over her suit of armor perfectly and her beautiful brown eyes always held so much hope that everything would find its way in the end.

The rest of the night scurried by much like any other night in the guild hall of Fairy Tail. The only difference was this night there was no merriment, no joy, no happiness within the guild hall. Even the usually unruly Natsu sat quietly, everyone still nursing their injured pride. Not a single one of them understood why so suddenly the Phantom Lord guild would start trouble between the guilds. Fighting amongst the guild was strictly forbidden by the Magic Council, however since the attack was not on the members themselves there was nothing to be done except rebuild. For tonight they would all just have to return home and hope that tomorrow would bring back some of the joy to their lives.


End file.
